Burger Cup Narrows to Sweet 16; Lush Douses Flamme in Only Upset

The Beijinger Burger Cup 2014 rolls into the Sweet 16 (Savory 16? Salty 16?) today, with almost all top seeds intact.

In the only upset of the round of 32, Lush (#5 seed) downed Flamme (#4 seed); meanwhile all other top 4 seeded burger joints are into the Round of 16.

In other round of 32 of results, Great Leap Brewing beat newcomers Windy City; 4corners edged out Paddy O'Shea's by a nose; Biteapitta handily defeated Migas; The Local edged out neighbor Q Mex; Slow Boat bested Lido's Irish Volunteer; 

Meanwhile Lily's overcame a strong showing by Morton's; Stuff'd outlasted The Cut; Plan B narrowly beat a strong showing by Burger Bar; reigning champion Home Plate sent Burgers & Beer packing; and Temple Bar beat Katchup.

Finally, Union Bar & Grille bested Beer Mania; Let's Burger beat Tim's Texas Bar-B-Q; The Big Smoke beat The Kro's Nest; blue frog overcame Nola; and Frost beat Rumi.

Voting for the Sweet 16 is now open. Click here to see the new contests, and vote for your favorite!

Matches in the Sweet 16 include:

Bracket A:
4corners (#4) takes on Great Leap (#1)
The Local (#2) takes on Biteapitta (#3) in an all-Sanlitun match

Bracket B:
Slow Boat (#1) butts heads vs Lily's American Diner (#4)
Shuangjing's Plan B (#2) goes up against Stuff'd (#3)

Bracket C:
Home Plate (#1) steps up against Temple Bar (#4)
Let's Burger (#2) takes on Tai Koo Li mate Union (#3)

Bracket D:
The Little Cafe That Could Frost (#2) takes on behemoth blue frog (#3)
Lush (#5) tries to topple The Big Smoke (#1)

And in results that will shock no one, beer was confirmed by our readers as the ideal accompanyment to a fine burger, with more than 1/3 of all respondents most typically consuming their burgers with a brew. A distant second was soft drinks, followed by Iced Tea and water.

Meanwhile, we asked voters to rank the 32 venues that were eliminated in the first round of balloting. Here's the reader-generated rankings of #33-64:

33. 1F
34. Luga's Villa
35. The Den
36. The Box
37. Chef Too
38. Grinders
39. Grandma's Kitchen
40. Village Cafe, Opposite House
41. Main Street Bar and Restaurant
42. Laker's
43. Park Side Bar & Grill
44. Peter's Tex-Mex
45. Alibi
46. The Garage
47. Pentalounge, Penta Hotel
48. American Steak & Eggs
49. Cafe Flatwhite
50. Eudora Station
51. The Filling Station
52. Iron Horse Saloon
53. Twilight
54. The Old Bike Cafe
55. Tiantan Kitchen, New World Hotel
56. Frank's Place
57. Pinotage
58. Jamaica Blue
59. Fuel, Langham Place
60. Domain, East Hotel
61. Park Square
62. The Bookworm
63. New York House
64. Helen's Café